BlockBefore

Melbeta, Nebraska

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Castle Rock precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 69355. It stands on Fairfield Seep. The Survey maps it on the Minatare quadrangle. 108 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,829 feet above sea level.

Melbeta within Scotts Bluff County

Population over time

2 figures

Melbeta fell from 112 to 108 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010112
2020108-4 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

79 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 79 fires within 5 miles of Melbeta between 2007 and 2020, burning about 877 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning53
Equipment and vehicle use8
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Arson/incendiarism3
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Recreation and ceremony1
Fireworks1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 September 2019Arson/incendiarism15 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
13 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
12 September 2010Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
8 August 2009Debris and open burning5.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 August 2010Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
25 August 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
11 August 2007Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
9 July 2020Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Scotts Bluff County

Storms near this place

31 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Melbeta in 31 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 17 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1999HailMelbeta$25,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMelbeta$9,000Sheet metal blown around, roof damage, and downed trees.
July 2025HailMelbeta-Estimated 65 mph wind gust at time of quarter size hail.
July 2025Flash FloodMelbeta-Spotter reports water running over Highway 92.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Spotter reports 75 MPH wind gust with Kestrel wind meter.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-A wind gust to 70 MPH was measured 2 miles ESE of Melbeta.
July 2023HailMelbeta-Quarter sized hail reported 1 mile southwest of Melbeta.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Four wooden power poles snapped and irrigation pivot flipped from outflow winds.
July 2020HailMelbeta-Golf ball sized hail 6 miles south of Highway 92 on Wrights Gap Road.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Reports of windows broken out of home.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Reported wind gust from a Davis System.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Pivot damage from wind gusts reported south of Melbeta.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Several small outbuildings blown over, metal roofs stripped off, large trees blown over, and pivots flipped over in the Melbeta area.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Multiple trees were knocked down from thunderstorm winds blocking roadway access along several area roads.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Two utility poles were knocked over along County Road A.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindMelbeta-Estimated wind gusts of 60 to 65 mph downed large tree limbs at Melbeta.
June 2017HailMelbeta-Quarter to half dollar size hail covered the ground at Melbeta.
July 2015HailMelbeta-Quarter size hail was observed two miles south of Melbeta. A corn field was destroyed by the large hail.
June 2014Flash FloodMelbeta-Two homes just west of Wright's Gap Road were flooded and surrounded by high water.
July 2014HailMelbeta-Quarter size hail covered half the ground. The hail broke windows of a residence.
September 2014Heavy RainMelbeta-Four and eight-tenths inches of rain was reported.
June 1999HailMelbeta-1 inch hail reported 3 miles south of Melbeta, NE
August 2024HailMelbeta-no account filed
June 2019HailMelbeta-no account filed
August 2019HailMelbeta-no account filed
August 2019HailMelbeta-no account filed
September 2010HailMelbeta-no account filed
September 2010HailMelbeta-no account filed
September 1999HailMelbeta-no account filed
September 1999HailMelbeta-no account filed
May 1996HailMelbeta-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Scotts Bluff County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Minatare2.1 miles13
McGrew5.8 miles13
Baxter5.9 miles14
Carlson6.3 miles13
Hillerage7.2 miles13
Bradley7.2 miles14
Tony7.3 miles14
Gering8.2 miles14

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on MelbetaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2661809The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 831196. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.